Maternity leave is the period where the new mother needs to take off from work due to the birth of her baby. There are many companies which have similar policies for the fathers. The new fathers are allowed for paternity leave. As basic information, the maternity leave comes from various benefits including vacation, sick leave, holiday time, short term disability, unpaid family leave time and personal days. Before taking this leave, it is highly important for you to preparation your leave properly so your family especially you will not incident any sudden financial disputes and you can spend most moment with your newborn baby.
For your maternity leave, you might get short-term disability which is the coverage to pay your wages or a portion of it. People who are in the need for medical related issues might get this coverage. Some large companies will include this advantage and some conditions have the regulation requiring which it is integrated in your benefits. It is also possible for you to get this coverage from local insurance contributor. You should know that the proportions paid and the lengths of exposure differ. The exposure time is also influenced by complication births just in case there is cesarean delivery. Due to this reason, it is highly important for you to confirm about the policy of the coverage.
You can also get the coverage from various avenues. You have to find further information about the company’s policies. In taking maternity leave, there are many companies which allow the employee to use sick, vacation, and holiday time. Some companies need you to use the benefits first before getting any disability or not paid time. Before taking any leave, it is better for you to check the rules connected to use the sick, vacation, and holiday time related to the maternity leave. You also need to ask any restriction on how it is used with disability or not paid leave point.
If you are wondering when you should take maternity leave, it is highly recommended for you to leave your job a week to a month before the expected birth. The people who take the leave a week to a month will use the time to prepare the baby arrival. Other people prefer to wait until the last moment. It is because they want to have more time when the baby arrives. According to the FMLA rules, you have to give a 30 day notice of your intentions to take unpaid family time to your employer.
Maternity Leave Consideration
In taking maternity leave, there are some recommendations which you can consider. The first thing to do is finding complete details about the options of maternity leave. By doing this, you can plan the best option for your leave. Discuss it with your partner about the option and plan the schedule.
When you are completing the first trimester, you should begin the communication with human resources and other people who will be affected by your leave. There are some employers who are less friendly to the pregnancy. Due to this reason, you have to evaluate the best time to share the news according to the previous experiences in your office. You might also offer your employers with suggestions and strategies to address while you are gone.
If you are wondering about the payment during the maternity leave, the claim to compensate and superannuation throughout the leave will depend on the terms of your contract of employment. The employers are not grateful to compensate the employee on maternity leave. You might meet the qualifications for maternity benefit which is the payment from Department of Social Protection you have sufficient PRSI contributions. However, the contract of your employee should provide additional rights to expense throughout the leave phase. Some employees can get the complete pay not as much of the amount of the benefit Maternity payable.
The FMLA which stands for The Family And Medical Leave Act is the regulation which oblige most companies to give their employees up to 12 weeks of not paid relatives leave time following the delivery of their baby. The regulation is applied for men and women. For the people who adopt child, this regulation is also applied. If the husband and wife are working together in the same company, they need to divide 12 weeks between two of them. It is then accumulated of both of their time. The husband and wife each can take 6 weeks off. As another option, one can take 4 weeks while other can take 8 weeks.
FMLA allows some exceptions for some businesses in allowing unpaid time off. If the size of the company is small and the number of the employees is less than 50, they will be included to the exception. The exceptions also apply on time of the employment and level of wages. For the employees who have income which account for the top 10% of wages for the business might not have the admittance to the unpaid advantage if the company can demonstrate with confirmation that the absence will create the important economic damage to the organizations.
In applying the maternity leave, you have to apply to your employer in writing the maternity leave. You have to apply to the Maternity Benefit Section of the Department of Social Protection for Maternity Benefit 6 weeks before the expected date. It is important for you to remember giving the notification to the employer at least 4 weeks before the maternity leave. For the people who have the intention to take additional 16 weeks maternity leave, you must give your employer with written notice at least within 4 weeks.
In case four weeks before the expected date, the baby is born more than four weeks, which is called face early birth, withing 14 days of the birth, then you give the employer written notice, you will need to fill the notice. If you want to return to work, you have to give notification to your employer 4 weeks before the date. Make sure that you plan the maternity leave carefully so you will not face any problem with your financial and your working place.
Reference:
- Maternity Leave. americanpregnancy.org/planningandpreparing/maternityleave.html
- Maternity leave. citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/leave_and_holidays/maternity_leave.html
- Image: theglobeandmail.com
Article publié pour la première fois le 22/08/2015